John Munson/The Star-LedgerFirst baseman Carlos Delgado, left, is a free agent this winter.

NEW YORK -- Carlos Delgado's days in a Mets uniform may not be over just yet.

General manager Omar Minaya said Friday he plans to travel to Puerto Rico next month to watch Delgado play in winter ball and has not ruled out re-signing him to play first base in 2010. The 37-year-old free agent is coming off hip surgery and an oblique injury that limited him to just 26 games last season.

Delgado would have to show that he is healthy and would likely have to accept a low guaranteed or incentive-heavy contract to return to Flushing. And the Mets will no doubt consider other options, including their own Daniel Murphy, to start at first base. But Minaya's interest in monitoring Delgado's progress makes it clear that another season with the Mets is not out of the question.

The Mets face far more critical questions this offseason than whether to bring back Delgado, namely how they will add more power to their lineup and whether they will acquire a legitimate No. 2 starting pitcher. But teams cannot negotiate with free agents other than their own until Nov. 20.

Minaya has expressed interest in two of the top free agents available, left fielder Matt Holliday and pitcher John Lackey, but it's too early to tell how high the bidding will go for them and whether it will be too high for the Mets.

-- The Mets will name Wally Backman manager of the Class-A Brooklyn Cyclones early next week. Backman, a fan favorite and member of the Mets' 1986 championship team, was infamously hired then quickly fired as the Arizona Diamondbacks manager in 2004 after revelations of his past legal problems.

Backman, 50, spent parts of the last two seasons managing the Joliet Jackhammers, an independent minor-league team in Illinois.

-- The Mets announced Friday that they will pull out of the Venezuelan summer league next year and make their academy in the Dominican Republic their base of operations for international player development.

The team opened its $8 million, 37-acre complex in Boca Chica, D.R., last year but still had some Latin American prospects training at an academy in Carabobo, Venezuela. One of them died there after an apparent heart attack last month. And safety has become more of a concern in general in Venezuela, with soaring crime and talk of war with Colombia.

But a team spokesman said the primary motivation for the Mets was to consolidate their international player development operations and maximize the use of their Dominican Republic academy. Prospects from Europe and other Latin American countries will also train there.